U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called on medical schools and residency programs to "embed rigorous, measurable nutrition education at every stage" of training.
In a Wednesday opinion column for The Wall Street Journal, Kennedy wrote that Education Secretary Linda McMahon supported his demands on the medical community.
"I am calling on medical schools, residency programs, licensing boards, and assessment and accrediting bodies to overhaul their standards. They must embed rigorous, measurable nutrition education at every stage of medical training," Kennedy wrote.
"Medical education organizations and accreditors should implement robust and meaningful nutrition competency requirements across the entire medical training continuum."
RFK Jr. said poor diet leads to more than 500,000 preventable deaths annually from heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
"The science is indisputable, and the void is clear. But the medical profession has been reluctant to fill it," he wrote.
Kennedy cited a 2022 survey in the Journal of Wellness that found medical students receive on average 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education per year.
"Even among those specifically pursuing a degree in nutritional education, the figure is a paltry 2.9 hours a year," he wrote. "Three-fourths of U.S. medical schools have no required clinical nutrition classes, and only 14% of residency programs have a required nutrition curriculum."
After launching a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign while running for president last year, RFK Jr. has used his job in the Trump administration to tackle several health-related issues.
He applauded the International Dairy Foods Association last month for announcing plans to eliminate many artificial food dyes over the next few years, and HHS recently announced that it plans reforms to the nation's organ transplant system.
In his Journal opinion column, Kennedy wrote that good nutrition could go a long way in combating the chronic disease epidemic.
"Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other diet-related illnesses kill 7 out of 10 Americans and consume nearly 90% of a healthcare budget that's more than $4 trillion a year," he wrote. "Unlike [COVID-19], this epidemic has been accumulating over decades, hollowing out the health of our people year after year."
"At the root of this crisis is nutrition," Kennedy added.
He said that nutrition counseling, "when applied properly," can prevent and even reverse chronic disease.
"The chronic disease epidemic is the most urgent and costly health crisis in America today," Kennedy wrote. "We can't afford another decade of delay. Reforming medical education to put nutrition at its core will equip the next generation of doctors with the tools to restore the health of our nation — to make America healthy again."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.